C Hellisen is a writer of dark fantasy and a devourer of books of any type. Her short story, Taking Back The Castle - When The World Runs Thin Anthology) is due out from Carnifex. Another short, This Reflection Of Me, will feature in the upcoming issue of Jabberwocky magazine.

This is Hellisen's first story for Something Wicked.

extract from The Subtle Thief

It's the word that stops the world.
I was thirteen.
Now I'm sitting in a bar in New-Town, watching for the flicker. The Jump.   
I was thirteen, and the world was a strange and wonderful place; a cup filled with fascination, overflowing to spill at my feet. Even the Fallen cities with their thorn barriers of barbed wire - even they beckoned. We weren't allowed there, of course, but the wires with their wrappings of flapping red ribbons called us closer.
There were tales told late at night about the Fallen cities, and we listened to them, our eyes big as ostrich eggs. Magic, our parents would whisper. There are things no man should do. Magic destroyed them. Incantations. Time after time. The dead cities stood as reminders of the power of words.
Come see, the ribbons said. Come see.

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